A news item has appeared in certain sections of the press that the appointment of Chairmen and Vice Chairmen in the state was having an adverse impact on the financial situation of the State. In this regard, a spokesperson of the Finance Department has clarified that the appointments of the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the Boards and Corporation and in the State Government was a routine activity done by every Government in power. There is nothing new about the appointments of Chairmen and Vice Chairmen by the present Government.
He also refuted the claim that each Chairman was costing Rs. four lakh per month. He clarified that the Chairman/Vice Chairman was being paid an honorarium of Rs. 15,000 per month and the existing staff was deployed with them. Therefore, the expenditure on them was very little and could have hardly any impact on the finances of the State. He further informed that the total budget expenditure of the State in the current financial year had been estimated at Rs.23,613 crore out of which, the expenditure on Chairmen/Vice Chairmen was so meager that it can hardly influence the finances of the State.
The major expenditure of the State was on salaries which was Rs.7,650 crore; on pensions Rs.3450 crore; and on interest payment which had been estimated at Rs. 2750 crore during 2014-15. He also added that in a democratic system the political input was very important in policy/programme formulation and implementation. Therefore, appointments of Chairmen/Vice Chairmen were essential for obtaining valuable political feedback in the policy making.
He said that as far as the issue of welfare of Government Employees is concerned, the State Government was always committed to maximize the welfare of its employees. During the current financial year only, the State Government had released two installments of Dearness Allowance at the rate of 10% each, the first on 1st April, 2014 and the second one had been announced on 15th August, 2014. These two installments of Dearness Allowance given to the employees of the State Government alone will have an additional outgo of Rs.1160 crore during the current financial year. All the employees of the State Government had been given an extension of one year during the current financial year.
The Government had also enhanced the minimum wages of the unskilled daily wage employees from Rs.150 to Rs.170 and the daily wages of the employees belonging to various categories had been enhanced ranging from Rs.170 to Rs.450. The Government has also enhanced the monthly honorarium of part time water carriers from Rs.1300 to Rs.1500 in the current year. The Government had taken a decision to convert part time workers completing eight years of regular service into the daily wagers. Similarly, the honorarium of the Anganwari workers had been enhanced by Rs.150, that of mini Anganwari workers by Rs.125 and that of Anganwari Assistant by Rs.100 per month. The honorarium of sewing teachers (SilaiAdhyapika) had been raised from Rs.1600 to Rs.2000 per month and that of Home Guards had been enhanced from Rs.225 to Rs.260 per day besides raising the rank allowance by 20%.
He said that other measures taken during the current year by the State Government to ensure welfare of its employees include regularization of college cadre lecturers appointed between 1997 to 2002 on contract basis; providing coverage to contract employees under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna; pension revision of the pensioners who retired before 2006; enhancing maternity leave entitlement of the women employees on contract basis from the existing 12 weeks to 16 weeks; provision of medical leave of 10 days and special leave of five days per year for all the contractual employees; and, enhancement in winter allowance for all the employees posted in tribal and other hard areas of the State from the existing rate of Rs.200 to Rs.300 per month.
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